I've had a few people express interest in the process I go through making my frag vids, so here's some info that'll hopefully help anyone who wants to do something similar.
Disclaimer: I'm well aware that I'm not some 'golden standard' and I'm not trying to speak from a point of authority. I'm ever learning and looking to improve what I put out. My hope is that I can at least give some basic tips/background to help others who want to make similar content.
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Software I use
- Nvidia overlay recording @ 1440p, 60 fps, 50 mbps
- Sony Vegas Pro 13
Collecting clips
- Make a point to not grind for frags or set content deadlines. Just have fun and let the cool shots gradually build up.
- Marker everything that might be usable
--- Even if it seems kinda meh, it might still look good chained together in a fast sequence as a tempo builder. Maybe it won't, but at least you'll be able to review it and decide once you start to build your vid structure.
- Grow comfortable with omitting stuff that doesn't meet your standard when recording. Try to mentally rank your content and enforce a quality threshold for keeping a clip.
- Come to a decision on roughly how long you want the vid to be. Decide how long you want the intro, outro, and credits to be.
- Try and chip away at the clip collection process whenever you're in the mood - It feels far less fatiguing to record clips in chunks of 20-30 than leaving all the replays until the end of your collecting process.
- When clipping, I like to leave 5-10 seconds before and after the frag/highlight, so that I have more transition options when editing.
- As you clip stuff make sure to name and rank it (discussed below).
- It's a good idea to rewatch clips as you build up your collection so you can get a feel for how far along you are in the process.
- Keep an eye out for potential opening and exiting clips.
- Try and keep a mental note of frag patterns and potential clip-chunks of similar content that you can link together. If you find a good pairing for a transition make note of it or group them together into a subfolder.
- When you think you have enough content, sit on it for a few days. I like to re-evaluate the clips I've collected and try and form a mental picture of how I'm going to structure things. This gives me a much better indication of whether or not I have sufficient (and sufficiently good) content.
Recording content
- Make sure you have a replay config set up with minimal HUD elements (I've attached mine below for reference). Some stuff like crosshair and health/armour can be fine, but obscuring the screen with too much junk can be annoying for the viewer. Make backups of your game and replay files in case you overwrite something.
- You can use GoaLitiuM's HideEditor lua script (attached below) to add a 'ui_hide_editor' console variable. Binding this as a hotkey allows the complete toggling of the replay editor (without the maximise editor button still showing while minimised).
- Your replay config should have binds for jumping to markers, and for skipping back and forth both in large and small chunks. Binds to mute/unmute in-game sound are also nice.
- When recording out-of-body content, make sure to click the 'detach' button in the replay editor menu to remove the 'cam point' objects from the scene.
Content ranking
- I find it easiest to manage my clips if I give each a rating/sort into folders. Usually just 1-3 as:
--- 1 = stuff I'll probably chuck but might be able to incorporate in a frag chain.
--- 2 = good content that I want to make up the core of my vid.
--- 3 = awesome stuff that I want to have as the centerpoints of my vid.
Naming convention
- Because I focus heavily on transitions I like naming each clip as 'Map_transitionin_transitionout_description'. e.g. cata_rjin_teleout_180_midair_rocket_rail.mp4
Combined with rating categorisation this helps a lot when constructing the vid layout and linking transitions together.
Picking the right music
- Figure out the kind of tempo and tone you want your vid to have and pick accordingly. I try to base my clip grouping/order around the music as much as possible. In my experience kind of laid back music with mid-fast tempo works well, but it really depends on the kind of tone you're going for.
- I'd recommend creating a playlist in whatever music program you use specifically for storing potential frag vid tracks you encounter.
Editing
- Don't overdo it, try and minimise distractions - the gameplay should be the centerpiece of the video.
--- I've watched way too many frag vids that are ruined by janky over-editing that takes the viewers eyes away from the action. I try to avoid stuff like colour/saturation adjustments, flashes, slo-mo, excessive out-of-body cam etc.
- Clearly define an intro/starting build-up. Figure out the tempo you want to enter into the vid with, and hit the ground running.
- Build up to a few climaxes throughout the vid, and centerpoint them around the music. Try to manage the tempo of the frags to the tempo of the music.
- Wherever possible try to arrange same/similarly coloured maps into small clip chunks. This can help reduce sudden 'jolting' variations in the viewers vision, as the colours don't change as frequently/drastically.
- Similar as above with frag types - chaining a sequence of similar frag type clips occasionally can work nicely to build a bit of continuity in the vid.
Transitions
- There are kinda three main transitions I try and adhere to whenever possible:
--- Rocket Jump Transitions - Frame synced so that the explosion is the first frame of the transitioned-to clip. Try to match up the angle and speed of the rocket jump for both the original and transitioned-to clips.
--- Teleporter Transitions - Frame synced to tele entrance/exits. Very easy to incorporate in some instances and should be taken advantage of whenever something like an RJ transition isn't possible.
--- Spin Transitions - Merging two clips with similar aim spinning (usually helps to overlay 1-3 frames for the transition to smooth things out). For these it's important to ensure there's as little clutter/colour change as possible in the spin the transition (this dictates 'how much' of a spin I'll leave for the first clip before transitioning to the second, and what frame I'll start the second clip from).
- Layered clip merging by 2-3 frames can help smooth out slightly janky transitions/necessary jump-cuts.
Most importantly, be proud of your work! If you're not genuinely thrilled with every new video you release, you're doing it wrong.
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Here are some example stats from my previous video, Take Two
- 96 clips used
- 264 clips equating to 36.9 GB of stored content
- 271 replays reviewed
- 10 preliminary songs
- No proper counter on man hours, probably around 20-30 (Cut down a lot from my previous vid due to improving and streamlining my workflow)
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Thanks Owl for the topic suggestions and improvements
If anyone has any specific questions feel free to post them here or hit me up in discord.
replay.cfg
HideEditor.lua